Day 8 - July 26 - Bryce Canyon
(This picture was actually taken as we arrived the night before)
This was one of the rare mornings on our trip when we could actually sleep in a little.
Roger even offered Kaylee breakfast in bed!
The boys would rather sleep.
Our very strange campsite. The retaining wall left us wondering how best to set up.
It took a few tries and a lot of blocks on the back side, but it worked!
Getting the animals ready for trail rides.
The "Amphitheater" portion of Bryce Canyon is the northern area that has the most "hoodoos." Brandon loved saying that over and over. We took the shuttle to see the sites in this area of the park, but we wished we had driven our van instead.
We decided to do a moderate hike into the canyon. We did the Navajo Loop /Queen's Garden combination trail. It was about 3.5 miles total and was great until we got to the uphill part!
These two look a little suspicious. Actually, they had been smelling the tree, but they didn't want me to take a picture.
It did smell like butterscotch!
Kaylee having a little fun with sharp pine needles.
This was part of the climb back out...yikes!
We could see horses and mules on the ridge in the distance.
Thor's Hammer (a well known hoodoo in the park).
Later we got back in our own van and drove down to the southern end of the park. We did the Bristlecone Loop, a nice 1 mile hike with less people! Guess why they call it the Bristlecone Loop?
We had never seen a stump quite like this before.
Great quotes in a gazebo along the trail.
We stopped at a few overlooks as we headed back to the north end of the park.
Dustin had hoped to get in 5 miles of hiking for a scout requirement, so a few of us hiked along the rim trail a half mile to help him log enough distance. It was a nice way to end the day!
Day 9 - July 27 - BYU
As we headed north into the Utah Valley, the mountains started looking familiar.
First sighting of "The Y." Brandon was all psyched up to touch it.
Provo Temple.
We left our camper in the parking lot and headed up the steep roads to the trailhead.
The kids getting ready to hike the Y...before they knew what they were getting into. I really thought that after the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, this would be a piece of cake for them.
Two problems. 1) It was 1:00 in the afternoon and BLAZING hot, and 2) I totally forgot how steep this trail is!!
Using seeds as helicopters provided a little temporary distraction from the discomfort!
There was much weeping and wailing - and much stopping to rest. After about 30 minutes of slug-like progress, Roger declared he couldn't take it anymore. He sat down on the side of the trail and said he would wait there with the stragglers. That turned out to be just the motivation they needed to keep going. Brandon was determined to "Touch the Y." So, we left Dad there and kept going. Every time the moaning would get too great, I would just say, "Fine, go down and wait with dad." That got him moving again.
Almost there!
After a nice rest in the sun, Roger quickly finished the hike in peace and joined us at the top!
Roger's typical "post hike" position.
The perspective is quite different from the base of the Y.
Roger found some wheat while we were walking.
He pulled it apart to show the kids the kernals inside.
A well-deserved ice cream break at the creamery!
We walked around the BYU campus for a while and were amazed at how much has changed. Some things are still the same, though. The kids had a blast playing in the Eyring Science Center, but I forgot to take pictures (must have been playing, too!). This picture was taken from the Kimball Tower.
The cougar in the Wilkinson Center.
In front of the stadium.
That evening, we headed up to Draper to see my friend Rhonda and her family.
It was quite a climb to reach her home!
Rhonda, Camila, Emma, and Sophia - I never got a picture of Mariano with his new braces!
Kaylee had to check out the books right away.
Dustin got right on the computer.
Rhonda's brother Paul happened to be visiting at the same time.
This is his adorable baby!
It was fun to see this on the wall at Rhonda's house.
I made it for her when she got married.
It was wonderful to see each other again!
Day 10 - July 28 - Salt Lake City
Roger was fascinated to see that there were two types of deer on the deer crossing signs in Utah. He insisted that I include it in the blog :).
The church Conference Center at temple square.
There were portraits and busts in the hallways of past and present church leaders. We decided not to include those pictures here. I wanted to show the actual size of this painting, though. I grew up seeing the small version in our church foyer.
The roof of the building is landscaped with lots of native plants.
It was hard to believe we were actually over the main auditorium!
This artwork is etched into the wall at the north end of the roof. The tour guide asked us to guess which prophet had been drawn into the picture. Roger correctly guessed that it was David O McKay as a young boy sitting on the gentleman's lap at the bottom right.
The Salt Lake Temple
The Christus in the visitor's center.
Inside the tabernacle.
We also went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and saw the video, "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration." It was excellent. After temple square, we went to get our camper trailer tires replaced and then headed to Park City to try out the Alpine Slide.
The ski lift is half the fun!
Raindrops started falling when we were about halfway up the mountain. We were very worried that they would close the slide and we wouldn't be able to do it. Brandon started praying right away.
Fortunately, his prayers were answered and we were able to finish our rides before the rains came.
We would've liked to go again, but we didn't want to push our luck with the weather, so we headed towards Ogden to visit Roger's aunt and uncle in Liberty.
Marcene's beautiful new kitchen!
Day 11 - Jul 29 - Visit with Don & Marcene
The horses all came close to the house in the morning. It was pretty cool.
Several of Marcene's children and grandchildren joined us for breakfast.
It was quite a spread!
The two Dustins - born within a few days of each other.
Cousins - Roger, Heidi, Mitzi, Rhonda
Don & Marcene
The boys all camped out in front of the video games for a little while.
Brandon quarantined himself on the laptop.
Later that morning, we headed to a local pool and swam for a while.
Brandon loved the water slide - once he FINALLY went down it!
The other kids in line weren't happy with the delay.
The boys took a time out and played racquetball.
Then back for more pool games. They enjoyed having boys their age to play with.
Kaylee wasn't going to let us leave without riding a horse. Don was planning to take Beechnut on a trail ride later that day, so he saddled her up a little early and let Kaylee ride. She was elated!
Later there was a little disagreement about who should ride next.
Notice Kaylee is still staking her claim along with cousin Dustin.
The two Dustins again.
Don and Roger heading back in after doing a little work in the field.
Kaylee saying her final goodbyes to Beechnut.
We couldn't find her at first, but we should have guessed where she was!
Heading up over Ben Lomond (the mountain between Liberty and Ogden.)
Heading down the other side into the Ogden Valley.
Almost missed the Idaho sign!
Arriving in Ammon, Idaho (near Idaho Falls) to spend some time with our friends the Grahams. Kim was unfortunately out of town, but Josh was a great host, and we had a really fun visit.
Josh & Roger
The boys hit it off right away with Justin & Mitchell.
They quickly disappeared to play football in the back yard.
Ashley and Kaylee were two peas in a pod, and they were so sweet to play with Coleman, too!
Nice big couch to relax on after all that hard playing! The Graham kids gave up their rooms for the night and gave our family the whole basement. We felt really spoiled!
Derek and Mitchell - the snap circuits were a big hit with Derek.
He stayed up WAY too late playing with them!
Super happy girls.
Day 12 - July 30 - Yellowstone South
After a yummy donut breakfast, we headed for Yellowstone. We didn't feel like stopping and waiting for our turn in front of the sign, so we have someone else's little girl in our picture now.
This isn't a very good picture compared to some we got later, but it was our first glimpse of a bison, so we have to keep it in here. We were very excited to see wildlife so quickly!
Setting up the camper at Canyon Campground.
It was a pain, but we followed the rules and moved our food to the van!
While we were setting up, we were joined by Jason & Jennifer Smart and their 5 kids. Jennifer and Roger grew up together in Kansas, and we were so glad it worked out to see their family on this trip! We spent the afternoon touring the south half of Yellowstone with them.
The kids being a little crazy between stops.
Another bison wallowing in the dirt.
The bison sightings started getting more frequent.
It was still super cool anytime one was close to the road, though.
Periodically, we'd see steam rising from the geothermic features in the park.
A stop at Fishing Bridge. Apparently if you come at the right time of year, you can see A LOT of fish here (and ironically you CAN'T fish for them).
This one was really close!
Yellowstone Lake
More wildlife - an elk in velvet.
The whole crew minus the moms.
Fountain Paint Pots
The plan was to go eat dinner at the cabin where the Smart family was staying near west Yellowstone and then head back to our campground. However, there were some nighttime road closures through the middle of the park due to construction, so we opted to stay the night at the cabin rather than drive the long way back late at night. Fortunately, we had all of our clothes with us and there was plenty of room at the cabin! The kids were also excited to have more time to play. 
Day 13 - July 31 - Yellowstone North
I found Roger outside the next morning enjoying the cool mountain air. He was in heaven reading his book in the quiet and occasionally catching glimpses of little critters scurrying around. Every time he sees this picture, he makes a pathetic sounding sigh and it is obvious how much he longs to go back! It's basically a picture of his dream life.
Another delicious breakfast spread - and they weren't even planning on us!
After bidding farewell to our friends, we headed back to Wyoming to see the north part of Yellowstone. First we stopped at Firehole River, a popular place to swim. 
The novelty wore off fairly quickly for these Florida kids.
They weren't used to the cold water!
Some of the braver swimmers were fighting the current to get on the rock ledge.
They would then jump in and ride back down.
Monster dandelion.
A coyote
Mammoth Hot Springs was quite a disappointment. I visited as a teenager and remember how it used to look. Things have dried up quite a bit now, and it was sad!
Some waterfalls further around the north loop.
We were so excited to see a bear cub along the side of the road.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of other excited people, so it took a while to get close!
I think Kaylee still prefers the stuffed variety.
Day 14 - Aug 1 - Tetons
One last wildlife encounter as we headed out of Yellowstone VERY early on Sunday morning.
It wasn't too impressive at first!
The low clouds made us wonder what we might be missing.
First glimpse of the beautiful Teton range.
We had to arrive early to get a spot at Signal Mountain Campground. We were set up by 8:30 AM and changed clothes so we could head into Jackson for church.
It was a gorgeous drive!
We arrived in time for Sacrament Meeting in Jackson.
There were lots of these antler arches around Jackson.
After church, we changed clothes and spent some time at very nice visitor center/museum.
There was grass growing on the roof.
There were some volunteers showing people skulls.
Roger successfully identified almost all of them.
They also had some snakes, which caught Dustin's attention right away!
We took the scenic loop back through Teton National Park.
We stopped and had lunch along a trail.
Eating cherries.
The kids pretended to be Elliot from "Open Season" (he only has one antler.)
After our lunch break, we drove on up to Jenny Lake and spent some time there.
The idea was to stay mostly dry, but we weren't surprised that Brandon ended up quite wet. That water was COLD!
The boys had contests skipping stones and launching some bigger rocks.
We drove to the top of Signal Mountain to have a look.
Roger, Derek, & Dustin hiked the 3 mile trail down to the campground while the rest of us drove the van back and started dinner.
1 comment:
Man - that Teton area is beautiful! Wow! I didn't know you guys did the Alpine slide - that looks super fun! What a great post. I'd love to read the last one, but I HAVE to do some work tonight. I'll save the anticipation until tomorrow...
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